Gramegna loses out to Centeno on Eurogroup

Luxembourg finance minister, Pierre Gramegna, made it to top two to replace Dijsselbloem

alistair holloway, heledd pritchard

04.12.2017

Luxembourg Finance Minister Pierre Gramegna (LW)

Luxembourg's finance minister, Pierre Gramegna, has lost out to Portugal's Mario Centeno in the race to head the Eurogroup.

Four finance ministers were in the running for the position – Centeno, Gramegna, Slovakia's Peter Kazimir and Latvia's Dana Reizniece-Ozola.

The Eurogroup is an informal body of ministers from the 19 countries using the euro that discusses matters relating to the common currency.

In the first round of voting earlier today, none of the candidates reached a simple majority of 10 votes, and Latvia's Reizniece-Ozola dropped out of the race.

The last two ministers in the race to head the group were Gramegna and Centeno.

Before the vote, current president Jeroen Dijsselbloem seemed to have let slip that Centeno would be his successor.

Mario Centeno (AFP)

While talking to reporters before the meeting, Dijsselbloem said: "I'll be president until January 12, and Mario Centeno will take office on January 13."

He then backtracked, saying he "of course" did not know, adding "please do not quote me".

Speaking to reporters outside the European Council earlier on Monday, Gramegna said he was expecting to "fare well" in the first round.

"I entered the race because I thought I had a chance to win the race," he said. "I'm reasonably optimistic."

Centeno will replace former Dutch finance minister Dijsselbloem, who became Eurogroup president in 2013 and was re-elected in 2015. He steps down in January.

The president is responsible for chairing Eurogroup meetings, drawing up the Eurogroup's long-term work programme and presenting the outcomes of discussions to the public and to ministers of non-euro area EU countries.

To become president, contenders have to secure a simple majority of at least 10 backers at the meeting in Brussels.

If no candidate reaches that point, each of the ministers running will be told how many people backed them.

They then have the opportunity to withdraw, and voting continues.

"The chairmanship of the Eurogroup is not about pushing national interests but to find the compromises that are acceptable to all with the right timing and sequencing," Gramegna said in his application letter.